Letter to the editor: Broadening Medicare coverage feasible — with several caveats

Thursday

Jun 13, 2019 at 7:45 AM

Medicare for all adults under 65 might be feasible if the recipients: 1) are not more than 10% overweight or submit to a specific daily calorie intake; 2) never use addictive substances; 3) exercise as prescribed by an overseer; 4) eat 5 to 7 portions of vegetables and fruit a day; 5) drink 6 to 8 glasses of water daily; 6) get a flu shot every year; 7) never drive recklessly; 8) use two types of birth control when not attempting pregnancy; 9) have a colonoscopy or Cologuard test every 5 years; and 10) are financially responsible.

The list could go on.

There are enough health surprises without asking for more. By ignoring people’s chronic bad habits, the government (we) would be pouring money down the proverbial rathole. If people think a doctor or a pill replaces their brain, that’s fine. Just don’t ask the rest of us to pay for it.

There is something else to chew on though: a $2,500 yearly allowance with a lifetime limit of $20,000 for dental improvement directed at low-income earners. After all, the mouth is the first line of digestion — as well as employment-limiting, if a person’s mouth is not presentable.

PAT SULLIVAN, JACKSON TOWNSHIP

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